Family
by Lightdemondarkangel
Summary: BtVSBrother & Sisters crossover! Buffy already thought she had a big family, but she discovers an even bigger one, the Walkers. Slightly dysfunctional, but loving just like the Scoobies.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Summary: **Buffy already thought she had a big family, but she discovers an even bigger one, the Walkers. Slightly dysfunctional, but loving; just like the Scoobies.

**Spoilers: **Post "Chosen" and some slight ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N: **Holly Harper will not be in this story, so the same for Rebecca. Buffy is taking her place, so that's why the story is AU.

**A/N: **It took a while, but I got the ages of the siblings. The oldest four were easy to find, but I had to guess on Justin. So, as follows: Sarah 39, Kitty 38, Tommy 36, Kevin 34, and Justin is 28.

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**2007**

"Damn, B," Faith whistled as they pulled up outside the Los Angeles home. "Didn't know your family was livin' like this."

"Didn't really have time to find out about financial situations with everything that's been going on," Buffy snapped. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the house, "Sorry."

Faith shrugged and shut off the engine, "Don't sweat it. I'd snap at someone too."

Buffy took her eyes away from the house and gave Faith a look. "When don't you snap at someone?"

Faith thought for a second and smirked, "Okay, so ya got me there. So, we gonna do this or what?"

"She knows I'm coming," Buffy spoke. "It'd be bad to just ditch her."

Opening the door, Buffy stepped out of the rental car and took in the whole neighborhood. It kind of reminded her of her home in Sunnydale. Y'know, if the homes in the Sunnydale were mansions and if everyone drove cars that had several numbers in the price.

Hearing Faith shut her door, Buffy stepped across the cut grass and walked along the path to the front door; even the door was huge. Taking another look at Faith who was blocking her exit, Buffy raised her hand and knocked.

'_I could probably take her,' _Buffy thought about her chances of getting around Faith. Her plan was halted as the door opened to reveal an older woman. She was dressed nicely, nothing too formal for their meeting. She had black hair, peppered with gray, but her eyes had a look of youth to them. Buffy figured she had to have that look with five kids.

"Mrs. Walker?"

-------------------------

**2006**

"The first rule of slaying, ladies?" Buffy asked the group of young women in front of her.

"Don't die!" they all yelled back.

Buffy nodded at their answer and paced in front of them. Every year, there were just a few slayers who didn't quite excel in the area they were supposed to. They didn't understand the concept of teamwork; maybe because there was just supposed to be one slayer.

"And how do you keep from dying?" she asked fired at them.

The girls looked at one another, not sure how to answer. The answer seemed obvious to them, but maybe she was just being tricky, they figured.

"Um, you fight with everything you have," a brave slayer answered, meekly.

Buffy considered the answer, placing a hand on the side of head, contemplating it. It was a pretty logical one, just not the one she was looking for.

"That works, but I was looking for teamwork," she nodded. "Individually, you girls are great, but you aren't alone, not anymore. You work as a team, you need one another. Now I know your instincts are telling you that you don't need help, but think about it. You can do more damage when you have someone with you and today, you girls are going to find out how much better it is."

"Is commanding an entire army of slayers, like, built in to slayers?" a voice called from behind Buffy. "Cause I think so, you've been handling them like it's second nature."

Buffy smiled at the voice and turned away from the slayers to find her best friend, Xander, smiling back at her.

"Rowena, Leah, Satsu, you guys know what to do," Buffy gave control over to her top three. Though they were three of the top slayers, even when the Council was being rebuilt years ago, they had still needed to learn the lesson of teamwork. They would be perfect for this job.

"I think they enjoy beating up the slayers a little too much," Xander commented when seeing Leah toss several of the girls away with ease.

"Only a watcher would see that," Buffy commented. She just loved riling Xander up about that. He may not have had the actual training, but he was the best equipped for the job of running the Scotland home base.

"Stop calling me that," he grumbled. "It's bad enough that everyone else is saying it, but I don't need my best friend saying it, too."

"It's been three years, Xan," Buffy laughed. "If I didn't stop then, I'm not gonna stop now."

"Let's get outta here," he pointed over his shoulder toward the door. "There's something you need to see."

Hearing the tone in his voice, Buffy followed him out the room. She wondered what could have happened. If Dawn had sex again, she was going to kill her! She already did enough damage the first time it happened.

"What's going on?" she asked when he led her to command central. There were several slayers who worked in here, keeping in touch with bases around the world. Video feeds that showed what was happening, as well.

"Hello, Miss Summers," a slayer nodded.

"I told you, Renee," Buffy reminded her. "You can call me Buffy. Just like Xander makes you call him Xander."

Xander gave Buffy a look, telling her to keep speaking. Sighing, she turned to a smirking Renee, "Or Sergeant Fury."

"I'll try to remember that," Renee nodded. She handed Xander an envelope and turned back to her station.

"Someone sent a letter to the slayer posing as you in Italy," Xander answered as his finger moved along the already opened seal of the envelope.

"You read it." It was more a statement than a question.

"I wasn't going to, but the Buffy in Italy did and told me that I needed to and then to pass it on to you."

He gave her the letter and Buffy's world came crashing down.

_Dear Buffy,_

_My name is Nora Walker. Two months ago, my husband, William Walker, died. He was a good man, but a few days ago, I was going through some of his things and found a letter. It was from a woman named Joyce Summers, your mother. Twenty-six years ago, my husband had an affair with your mother. She hid the pregnancy from him and you were born. When your mother died, the letter that I found was sent to William and he hid it from his family. When he died, I found the letter and found you. I can honestly say that I do not know why I wrote this letter, but you are still family, even if you aren't my daughter. I know you must be very busy, but if you would like to talk, I'm here._

_Sincerely, Nora Walker_

"Buffy?" Xander tried to speak to her.

Her life was a lie? Her mom was her mom, but her dad definitely wasn't her dad. Okay, so that wasn't exactly a bad thing, but still. He raised her, for the first few years anyway, but that had to count for something, right? Another though struck her. It was a memory from when she was younger.

Mr. Gordo…

"Mr. Gordo," Buffy whispered before taking off for her room. Xander, who heard her, scratched his head in confusion and followed after her.

-------------------------

Throwing her door opened, Buffy walked to her four-poster bed and picked up her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Gordo. Hugging it to her small frame, Buffy tried to keep the tears from falling. She was supposed to be strong now, leading these girls against vampires and demons, not crying because of this latest piece of news. It wasn't even a threat!

"Not everyone can run without taking a single breath," Xander tried to break the silence. Though, he really was out of breath, Buffy's room was far. Walking to his friend, he put his arms around her and placed his head on top of hers.

"Why didn't she tell me?" she sniffed. "I knew things were happening, but there was time."

"I'm sure she had her reasons," Xander answered. "Maybe she wanted to protect you. The guy may not have been a good guy."

There was more silence. The only thing that could be heard was Buffy trying so hard not to cry.

"I met him before, I think," she pulled from Xander's embrace. She held up Mr. Gordo and squeezed him softly. "I think he gave him to me. It was my birthday and all the kids in my grade were at my house. After I opened the presents, he walked in the room and gave me Mr. Gordo. I don't know why I didn't remember until now."

"So what are you gonna do?"

-------------------------

**Present**

"You must be Buffy, but please, call me Nora," she smiled as she stood aside and let the two women in.

Buffy walked in first and took in the sight before her. The home was definitely had a home-y feel to it. She knew there were memories here, memories she wasn't apart of. Why was she here again?

"Nice place," Faith nodded. She was playing her part of awkward silence breaker pretty nicely in Buffy's opinion, but she'd still take her out if she had to to escape from here.

"Thank you," Nora's smile seemed permanent. "Buffy may have mentioned you in one of her letters, but I can't put a description with a face."

"I'm Faith," she answered. No need for a last name, they were still wanted by some people, after all.

"It's nice to meet you."

The three stood in the silence in the foyer, until Faith wondered if she had any food. "The drive took a while."

"I can imagine," Nora led them to the kitchen. She began pulling things from the fridge and a pantry, preparing to make them a few sandwiches when she started the questions.

Buffy knew this was coming. Ever since that first letter, there had been many letters being sent between the two of them. When Xander had asked her what she wanted to do last year, she said she wanted to at least contact Nora. She wrote her first letter, explaining that she had no clue about her dad not being her dad and she wasn't sure how to react.

Nora's response was to comfort Buffy and Buffy had laughed about. Here she was, comforting Buffy about a man she would never know and yet, Nora was his wife and he cheated on her. She didn't understand how that worked, but she kept exchanging letters. They spoke about their lives, well, Buffy gave a heavily edited version, and Nora told her about her children, Buffy's half brothers and sisters.

Siblings?

All she had was Dawn. Sure, the Scoobies were family and the slayers were her sisters as well, but now she had more people in her life that she shared blood with. And there were five of them. Sarah, the oldest was the president at her dad's company, Ojai Foods. Then there was Kitty, who worked for a Senator. Her oldest brother was Tommy, who worked with Sarah. Kevin was next, a lawyer and finally, Justin. He was out of work at the moment. Buffy knew there was more to that, but she didn't really need to know right now.

In her letters, she told Nora about moving from Los Angeles to Sunnydale and how she adjusted to school; then meeting Willow and Xander and becoming friends with Giles, her librarian. She underlined three times that Giles was not a pervert, as most people seemed to think that someone befriending sophomores in high school was a bad thing to do. Without having to explain the whole slayer, she quickly breezed through her three years at Sunnydale High and went on to talk about college. It was a little hard to write about Joyce dying, but she did it and moved on to their last two years.

When Nora asked about why she relocated to Rome, Buffy explained that Giles had a job waiting for him in England and Willow was also asked to work for his company. They were her family and she went with them. But, she had found a job in Rome and she and her sister moved there. But, when college time came, Dawn went to Berkeley and Buffy stayed there.

Of course, it was all false as Buffy was never in Rome. Her decoy was doing a nice job at playing her. But that was beside the point. The letter exchange had been going on for a lot months before Nora finally asked if Buffy would consider visiting.

_I know the distance is quite a ways away, but if you were ever in States, I wouldn't object to you visiting._

She was hesitant to do it, but something told her to take the chance. Well, everyone told her to take the chance and she did.

"Thank you," Buffy accepted the sandwich from Nora.

"Are you going to be in town long?" Nora asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"A few weeks," she answered after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

"Good!" she smiled. "Then you can meet your siblings."

"I-I don't know about that," she mumbled. "Do they really want to meet me?"

"Well, I haven't exactly told them about you, yet," she faltered. "But if I know my kids, and I do, they'll be here, soon."

As if on cue, Buffy could hear the front door opening and the sounds of voices making its way to her ears.

"This should be fun," Faith smirked.

"Twins, can you believe it?" a voice happily spoke. The two slayers finally placed the voice with a face as a man walked in, followed by a woman and another man. The closeness between them screamed siblings.

"We believe it," the second man sighed. "After the thousandth time, you're having twins."

"Is it possible that one belongs to Kevin and the other one belongs to Justin?" the woman laughed.

"Sarah, Kevin, stop bothering your brother about the pregnancy," Nora interrupted the three as she hugged each of them. "Don't worry, Tommy, everyone's happy for you."

"I know, mom," Tommy spoke.

It was then that everyone took notice of the blonde and the brunette sitting at the island with sandwiches in front of them.

"Who're your new friends, mom?" Sarah asked.

Buffy knew it was now or never and hoped that the news wouldn't too bad for them to handle.

"This is Buffy," Nora smiled as she looked in her direction. "Your father's illegitimate child."

'_Well, so much for gradually breaking it to them,' _Buffy thought. She wondered if the whole family was blunt like their mother.

-------------------------

Okay, so those were probably big Season 8 spoilers. Sorry. Any questions about Brothers & Sisters, feel free to PM me!


	2. Chapter 2

**Family**

**Disclaimer: **Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Summary: **Buffy already thought she had a big family, but she discovers an even bigger one, the Walkers. Slightly dysfunctional, but loving; just like the Scoobies.

**Spoilers: **Post "Chosen" and some large ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N: **As follows: Sarah 39, Kitty 38, Tommy 36, Kevin 34, and Justin is 28. And yea, Buffy is 26.

**A/N2: **So, as it turns out, Justin is 26. For this story, he shall remain 28!

-------------------------

"I can't believe I thought this would work," Buffy told the vampire as she punched him across the face. His head was practically in the ground as the frustrated slayer attacked him as she straddled him. She reeled back for another when she looked at him, "I mean, how would you feel if your step sister you never knew existed showed up out of no where?"

"I wouldn't really believe it was true," the vampire managed to groan out.

Buffy glared at the vampire as she continued punching him, "Oh, what would you know?"

Faith heard a little bit of the conversation, but was preoccupied with her two vampires. The first one was the newly risen one, so he attacked her without any plan behind it; he was just hungry. She easily sidestepped him and drove her stake through his back, dusting him easily. The other vampire thought he could sneak up from behind her and grabbed her in bear hug. His barred his fangs and tried to sink his teeth in her neck. Using her strength, she kicked at the vampire's shin, forcing him to jerk back in surprise. Taking the moment, Faith spun, her arm extended and knocked the vampire back even more. Ending it quickly, she staked the vampire.

"B, get the kill," Faith told her.

"Huh," Buffy turned to Faith, confused. Faith nodded her head toward the vampire and Buffy looked back at him. He bruised and bloody, barely recognizable. He didn't deserve this. Faith tossed her a stake and Buffy quickly planted it in the vampire's chest.

"Thanks," the vampire groaned as he turned to dust.

"Sorry," Buffy mumbled a quick apology to the vampire and Faith.

"Don't worry about, you're still dealing with everything."

A ringing filled the night air and Buffy searched for her phone. "What now?"

"If it's another apocalypse, I'm not here," Faith shook her head as she backed away.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy looked at the number and frowned. She wondered why the Walkers' were trying to contact her, especially after the blow-up earlier that evening. "Hello?"

"Is this Buffy?" a male voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?" Faith could see the confusion on her face.

"I'm Justin. Sorry about earlier, my family's just a close-knit group, no matter how dysfunctional."

She smiled, the first real genuine one in a while. "No, it's fine. I shouldn't have expected everyone to be like Nora."

"Well, it doesn't excuse the fact," she could almost see the smile on his face. "So, I'd like to make it up to you and your friend."

"Are you treating?"

"To Burger King, yes. Anywhere without a value menu, no," he laughed.

"That's fine," she nodded. "We really didn't get a chance to eat before."

They agreed to meet at a Burger King that was closest to the both of them and hung up. "So, why are we meeting at a Burger King, not that I'm complaining about a free meal."

"Justin, the youngest of the Walker family. He wants to meet," Buffy told her as they walked back to their car, parked across the street from the graveyard.

"And the rest of 'em?"

Faith unlocked the doors as Buffy answered. "They won't be there, I'm hoping. And hey, I'm supposed to drive!"

"B, no offense, but the last time you drove--"

"That light post came out of nowhere," Buffy reminded. "And this car is in my name, by the way."

"Fine," Faith gave up. She knew this was her first mistake.

-------------------------

"I-We can't believe you're meeting her."

"Kevin, she's our sister," Justin defended, but Kevin was quick to remind him. "Supposed half sister, Justin."

"I believe her and I want to get to know her. Mom is the one that found her, not the other way around, Kev."

"And she has yet to show us these letters!"

Justin could hear his mother in the background as he spoke to his older brother over the phone. She too was defending Buffy. It seemed that only he and his mother wanted Buffy to be a part of the family, the others, not so much. All that was left was Kitty and there was no telling how'd she react.

"You tried to get a DNA sample, Kev!"

"Oh, way to go, mom," he heard Kevin speak. "Justin, it was just a little hair follicle."

"Yea and then her friend stopped you. You're angry because you got caught."

"Maybe her friend stopped me because she knew I would find out the truth."

"Kev, they're here. You, just think about what you did."

"What, am I on punishment?"

"Uh, yea, you are. I'll talk to you later, Kev."

He saw the car pulling up, and tensed at the almost death of its occupants. And it was just supposed to be a simple parking job, too. The doors opened and he saw two women step out, a smiling blonde, the driver, and an angry looking brunette. Her anger was at the blonde, probably because of her parking capabilities.

They walked to the doors, the blonde coming in first and she spotted him. "Justin?"

"You must be Buffy," he held a hand out. She took his hand and smiled.

"That's me, Buffy. This is Faith, don't mind her."

"Yea, and I guess that kid came outta nowhere like that light post?" Faith snapped. She sized Justin up, "You still paying?"

"Uh, yea," he gestured toward the line. "Do your worst."

"That was a big mistake," Buffy sighed.

-------------------------

As he watched Faith dig into to her meal, which cost several dollars, even though everything was from the value menu, he got to know his half-sister.

"Before Giles came to America, he worked for a company in England. After seven years here, they wanted him back so we all went with him."

"Just packed up and left?"

"You heard about Sunnydale, right?" she asked. "Big hole in the ground? There was nothing left here, and it was a job."

"What'd you do?"

"We taught girls," Faith took over. "Private school, self defense and stuff."

"And then I got a job offer in Rome and my sister and I moved there. And here we are," Buffy smiled. "What about you? Your mom didn't tell me much."

He shook his head, "She wouldn't. I'm a soldier in the army. I'm back from Afghanistan. When I came back, I got into some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Drugs, B," Faith clarified. She could see it; saw it many times before when she was younger. Something traumatic happens, there's only a few ways to cope with it besides getting actual help.

"I'm getting better, though," he reassured her. "Rehab, AA. I'm good, really."

"We had a friend who dealt with addiction," Buffy spoke. "We're really good, with the dealing a-and stuff."

"Yea, a real team," Faith rolled her eyes.

The rest of their dinner was spent talking about their childhood. He even got to know Faith a little, which surprised her. She was just here for Buffy. Faith didn't need a family, as she always told the Scoobies whenever they wanted to include her in their activities.

-------------------------

The next morning found the entire Walker family in the kitchen ready to start their day, except no one felt like starting it because they were too busy dealing with the fact that they had a new sibling, that only a few of them wanted to get to know.

There was one family member who had yet to have met Buffy and she stayed silent during the explosion. Justin thought she was great, as well as their mother. Sarah, Tommy and Kevin, on the other hand weren't ready to accept Buffy with open arms. They had their reasons, though some of them were not valid. Sarah's husband, Joe, and Tommy's wife, Julia, sided against their spouses and thought that Buffy should be given a chance.

"What was she like?" Kitty Walker, the second eldest child asked.

All arguments stopped as one by one, the heads turned to face Kitty, who stood close to the doorway.

"She's great, Kitty," Justin answered. "We had a good talk. She's a good person."

"I think you two might get along," their mother smiled at Kitty. "Well, I was hoping that all my children would get along with her, but I guess that's too much to ask."

"Mom."

"Don't you start with me Tommy," Nora pointed at her son. "All I'm asking is that you give her a chance. She needs a family, besides her best friends. I could hear it in her voice."

"You sure you just didn't _want _to hear it in her voice?" Sarah asked.

"That's it!" Nora snapped as she threw her hands down on the counter. Everyone jumped, a little frightened by her outburst. She didn't normally get this angry, but when she did, her kids were usually more compliant "You're going to get to know her and you're going to accept it. No matter how long it takes. We're going to be one big happy family!"

With that, Nora left the kitchen, letting her children take in the news. No one moved from where they stood or sat, they just stared at one another. It was Kitty that spoke first, "Maybe us girls should have lunch?"

"Yea," Sarah nodded. "That sounds good. We can give her a call and meet later today, if you're not busy with the Senator."

"I'm sure she'll be plenty busy," Kevin mumbled.

"Oh grow up, Kevin," Kitty rolled her eyes. "Maybe Buffy has a friend who can keep you busy."

"There is Faith," Tommy smirked. At seeing his wife narrowing her eyes, he coughed. "Not that I was looking for myself."

"And I think Faith might be a little much for Kevin," Justin smiled. 'Y'know, not being a dude or anything like that."

"Well clearly I meant a man for him," Kitty sighed. "We'll ask later today. Do you have her number, Justin?"

-------------------------

While the Walker family was busy discussing what to do about their new half sister, Buffy and Faith were in their hotel room, doing business. Since no one wanted to stop Buffy from seeing her new family, they couldn't bear to tell her that there was a demon uprising that was due to happen in Los Angeles. Of course, when she called that morning, the slayer she spoke to was too nervous that she spilled the beans.

"Just put Xander on the phone, please," Buffy sighed.

"S-sure, Miss Summers."

Covering the phone with her hand, Buffy complained to Faith, "Again with the Miss. Didn't anyone get that memo I sent out?"

"That's why I don't tell the mini-slayers my last name, B," she shrugged. "We're authority now, it's gonna happen."

"We never did it," Buffy countered. "Hello, Xander."

"How's my favorite slayer doing?"

"Things are great, but what's this about an uprising?" her clipped tone made him wince.

"You're living the family life, we didn't want to ruin it. But don't worry, there's a slayer at UCLA and we're flying in a couple more experienced slayers from Cleveland."

"Well--"

"Their flight should be landing in a few hours at LAX. They were told to be expecting you. I knew you'd find out."

"You're the best Xand," Buffy smiled. After saying their goodbyes, Buffy explained the situation to Faith. "Alright, so, get some lunch, swing by UCLA to get the slayer there and then to the airport."

"After that, wait for dark and go kick some ass," Faith nodded.

"Suit up, though. I don't know if we'll be back here or not."

-------------------------

By the time the slayer attending UCLA, Megan, had been picked up and the plane had landed, carrying Nicole and Samantha, Buffy was banging her head against the window in their car.

"Is there something wrong?" the one to ask was Nicole, an African-American slayer. Her long hair was pulled in a ponytail for the upcoming fight.

The UCLA slayer, a shorthaired brunette, Megan, answered her. "Miss Summers' family called before we picked you up. They wanted to have lunch, but were too busy. So, they asked to have dinner."

"And being the nice person B is, she accepted."

"Is this going to interfere with the slaying?" Samantha spoke up, a little annoyed. The dark haired slayer was a potential that knew of her status and had trained for the day when she might be called. Like a few other slayers who were originally under the Council's thumb, she dedicated her life to slaying, nothing else. It was hard for her to break out of that.

"No," Buffy finally spoke. "Faith's going to lead you guys and I'm going to the dinner. Hopefully, it'll be quick and I can help you guys."

"You better save some food," Faith turned away from driving to stare at Buffy.

"Yea, yea," her eyes rolling were a good indication of how likely that was going to be. She knew this was coming, a confrontation between her and her family without her rock, Faith. "Don't let me screw this up."

As long as a demon didn't attack, she'd be just fine.

-------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

Family 

**Disclaimer:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Spoilers:** Post "Chosen" and some large ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N:** Ages are in first two chapters

**A/N 2: **In the show, Kitty is not so accepting of Rebecca right away, but I'm going for a change.

-------------------------

She spotted them first, her two sisters and another woman that looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place her. Nora had sent so many pictures and Buffy was sure she'd seen her, but her name was escaping her. But it didn't matter because Buffy just convinced herself that she was not going to meet them. She was going to turn around, drive the car to find Faith and the girls walking to the cemetery and they'd beat the demons like they always did. And then, they'd check out of their hotel and back to Europe where Buffy would go back to her life and Faith would go back to hers. Life would be grand.

"Buffy!" Sarah called out when she saw the blonde.

Of course, Buffy smiled as she walked forward to greet them, they could notice her and she'd be forced to eat with them. And that option wasn't always the best option. If she ate with them, her life would be even more complicated. Even if she got to know them and became the best of friends with them, there was always the big secret she was hiding. Would they be able to accept the fact that she was a slayer? Or that she was in charge of several other slayers? Or even that they had another sister who was a key to dimensions?

Yea, life sucked.

"So, you're the one who has our family in an uproar?" Kitty asked once Buffy sat in her chair, across from the three women. If she wasn't so used to facing down demons, this might be a little intimidating.

"That'd be me, I guess," she nodded softly.

"Oh no, that's a good thing," Kitty reassured her. "If it doesn't happen at least once a day, then that means something is wrong."

"Oh, well then, I guess I'll have to think of something for the next time," she smiled, but it fell quickly, "If there is a next time."

"I'm sorry for how we reacted, Buffy," Sarah explained. "And this dinner--"

"Don't worry," she interrupted. "I get it, really, I do. It's a 'Get to know Buffy' and a 'Sorry for reacting badly' dinner mixed into one."

"We're the second wave," the third woman smiled. "After this comes Joe, Tommy and Kevin. And we haven't met yet; I'm Julia, Tommy's wife."

"It's nice to meet you," Buffy shook her hand. Looking at Sarah, "And Joe is your husband?"

"Right," Sarah nodded. "He's trying to get Tommy and Kevin to call you."

"I guess I can't expect to be welcomed with open arms."

The conversation edged toward awkward silence, but the approach of their server stopped that from happening. After taking their order, their server, Matt, left the four women alone.

"So," Buffy looked at Julia, "Twins?"

"Oh, yes," she smiled. "I wasn't aware you knew."

"We were talking about it when we first met," Sarah answered.

"Do you know the sex of the babies?" Buffy asked.

"No, we want to be surprised."

"Do you have any kids, Buffy?" Kitty asked.

She was taking a sip of her water when the question was asked and wound up choking on it. Sarah and Julia had pretty much the same reaction. "Kitty, what's wrong with you?"

"I wasn't trying to be rude, Sarah," she glared at her. "We don't know anything about her. She might be married and she might have children. I was curious."

"I'm not married," Buffy shook her head. "Buffy and marriage do not go hand in hand. And kids? Well, quite a few hundred."

"Hundred?" Kitty asked.

"Well they're not _mine_," Buffy's eyes widened. Was that even possible, that many kids?

"Nora said you teach at a school," Julia remembered. "Self-defense, right?"

"That's right," she nodded. "I learned when I was 15 and my mentor, Rupert Giles worked for a company that was originally in England, that taught the young women who attended. He now runs it and I help out. The new company is in Scotland."

"And you live in Rome?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Buffy figured it was okay to use a white lie. The part about the company was true, though. The wreckage of the original Watcher's Council was something the Scoobies didn't want to deal with. They wanted a fresh start and when someone made a suggestion about taking over a castle, they headed for Scotland. Their Scottish Citadel went through many a battle, but they always came out on top. But it seemed that every time someone attacked, they were after Buffy. Something about avenging someone or something she once slew. That was when Andrew got the idea that if Buffy weren't at the Council, then the attacks wouldn't be so frequent. So, soon, there were two Buffy's, the original and the one in Italy making herself very well known. Eventually, a third Buffy joined the game, but she never really had to deal with anything too bad because she was literally below the ground.

"Do your friends live there, too?"

"It's just me, and occasionally Dawn on breaks away from Berkeley," she answered.

"Your sister, right?"

"Yup, Dawn, the loveable pain."

But then that got Buffy thinking. The monks made it so that Dawn was the daughter of Hank and Joyce, but they made her from Buffy. So, would that make Dawn a Walker too? A part of her had to be. She'd talk to Giles about this.

"What about your friends, what do they do?"

"They work for the company, too, but in other areas. Xander is like Giles in that he runs the company. Willow goes around, bringing the girls in and Faith teaches with me, as well. There are others, but that's the main core, the Scooby gang, we used to call ourselves. Though, Faith swears she isn't part of the group."

"It seems like a big undertaking for someone so young," Sarah pointed out.

"That's what everyone says," Buffy smiled. "The girls we teach are ranged from 12-18, and the occasional older women, but we've been doing it for four years now. It's going really great."

Their food arrived and the four ate in silence. It wasn't awkward, they were all just hungry and had no more questions. Buffy knew a lot about them because Nora didn't hold much back in her letters.

"Kevin would never forgive me for this," Kitty put a hand to her heart, "But, at the moment, I don't care. Do you have anyone we can set him up with? A man, preferably?"

She would be glad to fix her brother up, especially if it meant getting on his good side, but all she knew were slayers! There were some gay demons, but that would never work out. Or would it? There were half demons that could change their face. She surprised herself with those thoughts. Was she that desperate to get in her family's good graces? Maybe there were some Watchers. There had to be.

"Um, well, I'm sure there's someone at the company, but it's mostly just women," she answered. "Xander did ask Willow to gay him up, but that's only because his history with women was not good."

"Anyone for Justin? What about Faith, she seemed nice?"

"We try not to let Faith anywhere near men," Buffy shook her head. She was going to explain further when her cell phone went off. She so wanted to ignore it because she was actually getting friendly with her family, but duty, for some strange reason, always came first. "Excuse me?"

"Buff?"

"Yes, Captain Fury?" Buffy smiled. She could see Sarah mouthing to Kitty "Captain Fury?"

"Faith needs a little help, she tried calling but the line went dead. The Coven here says they're fine, but could use a little backup."

"What are we dealing with exactly? The standard or something more?"

"Standard demons, foot soldiers if anything. There's just a lot of them," Xander answered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," she said goodbye and ended the call. Great, now she had to leave and had to lie about it.

"You know someone who has the name of a comic book character?" Sarah asked, amused.

"No, that was Xander," she smiled. "Since he's in command, he likes to use that name. Makes everyone call him that. But something happened and now I have to go get Faith."

"You're not flying back to Scotland, are you?" Julia asked.

"Oh no, there's just some business deal we have to do with a client here," she sighed. "They know I hate doing it but since Faith and I are already here, it's up to us. Giles points and I follow."

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Kitty smiled. "If you're free tomorrow, I'm sure we can surprise Kevin or something!"

-------------------------

After running to the car, Buffy floored it to the cemetery. Luckily, it was close by and Buffy made it there in record time and she only almost hit one pedestrian, which was A+ driving in her book. Parking at Rosedale Cemetery, she was surprised to see a playground across the street from it, which was just a little too creepy for her. She heard the roars of the demons and ran toward them, her scythe swinging from her hand with one thought going through her head.

'_What demon uprising ransacks a cemetery?'_

She made it in time to see a demon standing over Samantha. She was groaning and looked to be bordering on unconsciousness. Charging forward, she swung the scythe at the things neck, taking the head clean off. She pushed the body to the side, making sure Samantha was demon weight free. Scanning the area, she could see most of the demons were dead, but there were still a few rogue ones.

"B, what are you doing here?" Faith's voice called out. She was still fighting against her demon.

"Oh you know," Buffy answered as she ducked under a huge fist, "Bailing you out, again. So, what's the deal with these guys?"

"Watch out for their fists!" Faith answered as she jumped over the demon and ran the sword through its back. The demon fell and Faith moved on to the next.

Buffy never got to ask why when the demon surprised her and connected with her face. It was like being hit by Glory and she went sailing through the air, hitting the side of the mausoleum. Groaning, Buffy rose and rolled forward, dodging the demon's next attack. Brushing herself off as she stood, Buffy stood in a ready position. As the demon darted toward her, she rolled again, but swung her scythe out, slicing its legs. It cried out in pain, but Buffy was quick to end its suffering as she dealt the killing blow.

The demons, sensing their defeat, fled through the cemetery, trying to escape. Buffy looked to Faith, who took charge. "Split up and follow them. They shouldn't be too hard to handle now."

The three slayers nodded as they each took off in different directions, tracking their demons. "I see you really didn't need me."

"Samantha might say different. We were too far to save her, but you came."

"You can thank the demon that crushed your phone for that," Buffy laughed. They started walking off toward the car, listening for any signs of the demons, or if the slayers called out for help.

"How'd the dinner thing go?"

"They didn't bring any pitch forks," she answered. In front of them, a demon ran past, but Megan was right on its heels. Executing a nice tackle, Megan brought the demon down and stabbed it through the heart. "She's good."

"Should have saw her during the fight. You gonna visit the house tomorrow?"

"Depends. You know any gay Watchers?"

Faith laughed as she thought about it. "I'm sure we can find one."

"Good. And if that doesn't work, how do you feel about Justin?"

-------------------------

_Don't worry, Faith won't be paired with Justin. I don't think anyone is going to be paired, unless I can find a gay Watcher for Kevin._


	4. Chapter 4

**Family **

**Disclaimer:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Spoilers:** Post "Chosen" and some large ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N:** A few people wanted Andrew to be the gay Watcher for Kevin. Honestly, I think they would be friends, but not quite lovers, y'know?

-------------------------

"So, when can I come visit?"

"Dawn--" Buffy started.

"Come on, Buffy! It's L.A. and I'm in Berkeley. It's a six hour drive and with flying, I could be there even sooner."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Buffy muttered.

"Aren't you the one who wanted more bonding time?" Dawn pushed. "And besides, a weekend away from here would be great. It's my last semester, you know. After this, you can't keep me away from being a Watcher."

"I know, Dawn," she sighed. "I have written it down on my calendar, 'The day Dawn's childhood ends'."

"Buffy," she whined. "I've been doing this for a while now."

"I know, but then it's official."

"We could have a good hanging out session if you just let me come down."

"Fine," Buffy gave up. "Today's Wednesday, do you think you can be here this Friday?"

"Even better, I can be there tomorrow," she said cheerfully.

"You can get a plane ticket that fast, and don't you have class?"

"Actually, I don't have class tomorrow and the plane issue? I already have it. I knew you'd cave in."

"Be happy I have to be somewhere right now," Buffy threatened.

"Yea, yea," Dawn spoke as she hung up the phone.

Buffy ended the call and sat back on her bed. She loved this, being able to relax on the nice sheets of the hotel bed. It was also nice being able to call the place a hotel instead of a motel. That was how their life used to be, before they were able to access the money from the Watcher's Councils accounts. She definitely didn't want to go back to living like that.

Hearing the familiar sound of the key card, Buffy watched as the door opened. Faith walked in, carrying a box of pizza. It was only for her as she turned down the invitation of going to the Walker's for dinner with Buffy. It was time Buffy faced the family for herself.

"Shouldn't you be leaving soon?" Faith asked as she sat on her own bed. She opened the box and picked the biggest slice.

"Yea, but Dawn called me before I got out the door," she shrugged. "She wants to come visit. She'll be here tomorrow, actually."

"You caved, huh?" she snorted.

"There was no caving," she lied. Getting up from her bed, she slipped her shoes on as she pulled on her jacket. Walking toward Faith's bed, she grabbed the car keys from her and managed to swipe a slice of pizza. "It's not that I don't love Nora's cooking, because I do, but slayer metabolism and all that."

-------------------------

It was the morning after the "demon uprising" that Nora called Buffy. She was calling to ask how Buffy had fared against Kitty, Sarah and Julia. After explaining that the dinner went well, Buffy could hear the drastic change in Nora's voice. It seemed that if the dinner had gone south, she was going to give out some punishment. Nora was happy that a few of her children were getting to know Buffy and so she invited Buffy over that night for dinner where Kevin and Tommy would be waiting. She agreed, well, because she wanted to be liked.

The drive to the Walker's house was enough to almost send Buffy back to her hotel. Faith drove the car without filling up the gas tank, so when went to a gas station, she had to deal with some kid trying to hold the place up. He pretended to have a gun, putting his hoodie over his hand, making the guy behind the counter think he was holding one. Buffy could see this and dealt with the problem. She was thanked, and yet, she still had to pay for the gas. After that, there was a car accident that delayed her a few minutes. After getting around that, and thinking she was home free, her spider senses went off. After dusting the vamp, she came to the conclusion that someone up above didn't want her to have a happy life. She almost listened, ready to bolt, but she didn't. She had to do this; she was sure her mom would want her to.

After parking the car outside on the house, she shut the engine off and counted to five. After counting, she stepped on the pavement and shut the car door. After another five seconds, she made her way to the front door. She didn't even knock on the door before it was pulled open. She expected to see Nora, not her brother.

"You got sucked into this, too?" Kevin asked.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed before moving aside, letting her in. He led her to the family room and she knew something was up when it was just Tommy waiting, sitting on a comfortable looking black couch.

"It was a set up," Kevin explained, as he too took a spot on the couch. "Mom's on a date with her Professor, Kitty and Sarah are doing some research on the senator."

"She has no idea what you're talking about, Kevin," Tommy shook his head. Buffy sat in a chair, a glass table separating herself from her brothers. Looking at Buffy, he explained further. "Mom use to write years ago and tried to get back into it. Her Professor asked her out."

"And the senator?" she asked.

"Kitty works for him, Robert McCallister, and so she's doing getting some information on him in his hometown," Tommy answered.

"You don't seem to like it," Buffy saw the look on Kevin's face.

"He's a Republican," was all he said.

"Oh."

"And Joe is with his kids, which leaves us."

"Which _you _don't seem to like."

"You have to understand, Buffy, this was all a little fast. Things were happening before you came and then to hear that our dad cheated on mom? We just didn't know how to deal with it."

"I do understand that," she nodded. This was strikingly similar to the conversations she had the last couple of days. Hopefully, she could get these two over to her side.

"I've had stuff like this happen, well, not like _this, _but I've dealt with unexpected surprises."

"Did you accept it right away, whatever it was?" Kevin finally spoke.

Buffy thought about Dawn, and how she reacted when she was told that her sister was not always her sister. The monks made Dawn apart of her, so she was drawn to her the entire time. But Buffy knew, that if that weren't the case, if Dawn had been made from someone else and still placed with Buffy, she would have protected her anyway. Of course, there was Glory to deal with, so she was never really given the chance to really analyze things, so, bad example.

Then there was the whole Angel is a vampire thing she dealt with when she first came to Sunnydale. She was supposed to do her slayer-y duty and have him dusted, but there were circumstances. She accepted his curse and thought of it as a blessing, especially since they dated. Of course, accepting him led to Angelus, but once more, circumstances!

After thinking of several other times she dealt with surprises, Buffy began to realize something. All of her problems had circumstances. "I wasn't always accepting of whatever came our way, but after time, I learned to like it. Or at the very least, tolerate it. It usually helped when I got something out of the deal."

"And what could you give us?" Kevin smirked. Tommy glared at him, but Kevin didn't show any interest.

"For you, Tommy, I can give you babysitters who won't charge and they know how to do defend themselves and other people, as well. I know that's not much, but I don't know much about you."

"You know about Ojai Foods?" At her nod, he continued. "Our dad was going to leave me a winery, and I decided to take a chance on it. We're having a celebration this weekend, if you're interested."

"Our dad?" Buffy was shocked.

"We may not have said it before, but you are part of this family, Buffy," Tommy smiled.

"Thanks," she ducked her head. Lifting her head, she looked at Kevin, smiling. "Kitty mentioned that I should find someone for you, to date, I mean."

"Kev's not looking right now," Tommy laughed. "Ever hear about Chad Barry, the soap star?"

"No," she shook her head. "You dated him, Kevin?"

"If you could call it that," he sighed. "Because of his status as a celebrity, he couldn't be out. And then when he did come out, things were just too--"

"I got it," she nodded. "Things turned out to be more complicated, and now I'm not so sure about the person I had in mind."

"What's wrong with him?"

"We're not sure if he even is gay, but we're pretty much positive on it. It's just getting him to admit it, you know? And there's the age thing."

"What's he like? And just how old is he?"

"Twenty-four, but you wouldn't have guessed it," she rolled her eyes. "He's big with the comic books, which I hear you are, too."

"Maybe not 'big', but I'm not your average fan."

"Good, you already have your in, then. No one else that works with him can follow much of what he says, except Xander. He annoys most everyone, but we know he tries to stand out."

"I don't know about a relationship, but if he needs help with anything, I'm sure I can talk to him," Kevin offered.

"Thanks, and I'm sure he needs some time. I'm pretty sure everyone needs some time off."

"Are we going to meet your friends?" Tommy asked.

"Well, Dawn is coming tomorrow, so I'm sure we can swing by for a big meet and greet. Everyone else is usually busy, but I'm sure we can all figure something out."

"It'd be really nice to meet them," Tommy nodded. "So, did you still want to eat?"

"Yes, please," Buffy smiled. "Starving, actually."

-------------------------

The dinner that night had Buffy opening up a bit more. There were a lot of laughs, especially when she apologized for trying to bribe them into liking her. They brushed it off, but she did say she would make good on those offers she spoke of. Like the rest of her family, she told them the story of her life, leaving out the juicy stuff. Juicy meaning the truth, of course. She learned more about them, things Nora left out, which wasn't much.

After dinner, the three parted ways, but Buffy did something unexpected; she hugged them. "Well, that was majorly awkward."

"Don't worry about it," Kevin shook his head. "Awkward moments always happen."

"What he means is," Tommy shoved Kevin a bit, "Don't feel like you did anything wrong. Family, remember?"

"Gotcha," Buffy smiled. "Family means never having to say you're sorry, or at the very least, feel bad about awkward moments."

-------------------------

**Walker Household – Next Morning**

"I can't believe you told her to set me up with someone!"

"Kevin, you act like this is the first time she's done something like this," Justin laughed. "Remember Steve, the guy who 'accidentally' rear ended your car?"

"You can't trust her, Kev," Tommy shook his head.

"Oh come on, she agreed didn't she?" Kitty sighed.

"I wouldn't care if she gave me the perfect guy," Kevin glared. "I don't need you setting me up!"

"Mom, you might want to break the wine out early," Sarah smirked. "I think someone needs to lighten up before Buffy gets here."

"Just because she promised to find someone to baby-sit and protect your kids does not mean you can take her side," Kevin huffed. "And does no one else wonder about her job? Self-defense?"

"Just because she doesn't look it, doesn't mean it's not true. I mean, look at Kitty," Justin smiled at his older sister.

"Ha, ha."

"I know, but clearly there's more than that to the self-defense thing," he said as he looked at Sarah. "You said she left that dinner because of a client. What client, if she only teaches self-defense? Yea, her friends work in other areas, but what areas?"

"So she probably has a few secrets. Give her time, Kev, she just met us," Justin shrugged.

Off in the house, they could hear a doorbell ringing. There's mom voice came soon after, telling whoever was on the other side that she was coming.

"Don't ruin this, Kevin," Kitty warned.

His mouth dropped open in shock. "Me?"

"Hi guys," Buffy smiled once she walked through the doors leading to the backyard. Everyone was sitting around a table, waiting for their mother to finish making lunch. Standing behind her was Faith, and another young woman they hadn't met yet. "Everyone, this is my sister, Dawn. Dawn, this is Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin and Justin."

"Hello," Dawn waved. "I hope Buffy's been telling you good things about me."

"Actually, Dawn," Buffy looked at her sister, "I've rarely said anything."

"Well, I guess nothing's changed then, huh," Dawn glared.

"Are we gonna eat or what?" Faith stepped forward, sitting in an empty chair next to Justin.

"Lunch will be out soon," Nora's excited voice rang out from inside the house.

Buffy and Dawn moved walked to the table, as well. They filled the table, Sarah, Tommy and Kevin sitting on one side, while Kitty, Justin and Faith sat on the other. Dawn sat next to Faith and Buffy sat next to Kevin. One chair was left open, and that was Nora's, at the head of it.

"What do you do Dawn?" Kitty asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm in my last semester at Berkeley," she nodded. "Double major in Folklore and Linguistics."

"Folklore?" Sarah asked.

"Yup, I've always been interested in finding what's real and what's myth. And I love languages, so it only made sense," she shrugged.

"What do you plan on doing after graduating?" this one came from Kevin.

Throwing Buffy a glare, Dawn answered, "I haven't decided yet."

"Did we miss something?" Justin asked, catching the glared. Everyone else noticed it, as well.

Faith burst out laughing when both Buffy and Dawn tried to downplay the situation. She decided, being the good friend she was, to explain for them. "Little D here wants to join the family business, but B doesn't want it to happen."

"What would she do in self-defense?" Kevin's interest was peaked.

"The company does many other things," Dawn answered. "It owns a lot of things around the world, including libraries, where I could translate. I don't see what's so bad about it."

"It's not the life I want for you, Dawn," Buffy sighed.

"Let her live her life, B," Faith spoke, only to receive a glare in response. Any further conversation or awkward moments were halted when Nora walked out, carrying several amounts of food. It took about two trips before everything was out.

"Thank you for having me over, Mrs. Walker," Dawn said.

"Please, call me Nora, I insist," she smiled. "And don't even think I didn't want to meet you. You're a part of this family now, too. You too, Faith."

"This is really good, Nora," Buffy said.

"How could you tell, you're sucking it all down so fast," Justin smiled.

"Really Buffy, when was the last time you ate a full meal?" Dawn rolled her eyes.

"It's not that," Buffy defended. "Just that having a home cooked meal is few and far between for me."

"Well, as long as you're here, you can have them whenever you want," Nora smiled, but it faltered when she noticed the looks on their faces. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe it doesn't count," Dawn tried.

"You know how it works," Faith sighed.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked. He was a little confused about the turn of events.

"It's just, whenever someone says something like that, something goes wrong," Buffy looked at her family. They all had a look of disbelief on their faces, but before someone could speak, her cell phone rang. Excusing herself from the table, Buffy went inside the house to take the call.

"Our lives are always taking turns," Dawn told them. "Can you pass the cole slaw, oh, and the ketchup."

"Ketchup?" Kevin asked. The look of disgust was clear.

"I won't know if it's good unless I try it," she shrugged as she squirted some on. Taking a bite, her eyes rolled in delight.

"It's better to just look away," Faith nodded.

"What are your plans for the weekend?" Nora asked. "Tommy's having his wine opening, and it would be nice if you could come."

"Of course," Dawn smiled. "I hope nothing else is happening."

"I can't believe this!" they heard Buffy's angry voice. "Can't they get someone else to do it?!"

"And there's the something else," Dawn groaned.

"What about Faith?"

"What is your sister trying to set me up to do now?" Faith snapped. Rising from her chair, she rushed inside to see what was going on.

"Does this happen a lot with the two of them?" Sarah smiled.

"Oh this? Usually, they're at each other's throats. This is civil," Dawn reassured them.

"Screw this, B!" Faith yelled. "Can't they get someone else? You're busy, I'm busy!"

The Walkers and Dawn stiffened when Faith and Buffy walked out the house with hate in their eyes. This time, Buffy sat beside Dawn and Faith took Buffy's seat.

"Is something wrong?"

"There's a problem in England and they want me there. I don't even know what's really happening," Buffy lied. Someone was killing slayers and Buffy was needed to lead a team.

"Is it that important?" Dawn asked. "They invited us to Tommy's winery opening."

"It is," she looked Dawn in the eyes. The youngest sister could see the seriousness in her eyes. "But I want to stay here and go to the celebration."

"If you have to go, we won't mind," Kevin shrugged. "I'm sure Tommy's broken heart will mend."

"Way to make her feel better, Kev," Justin shook his head.

Faith's eyes found Buffy's, who tried to understand what Faith was trying to nonverbally say. "B, you're sitting in my seat, and I'm in yours."

"I didn't think your name was on it," Buffy gave her a look.

"No, B," Faith smirked. "I'm in your spot and you're in my mine."

"You can go as me," Buffy smiled as Faith's idea started to make sense. "Call Willow, she if she's up to working her mojo."

"What's happening?" Nora asked.

"Don't worry, Nora," Buffy smiled at her. "I'll be at the party."

Her body will at least…

-------------------------

_I think we know what's about to happen. I just wanted to toy around with the idea, see where it led me. I'm focusing on this story and only this story until its end, which is soon. I don't want it to last long. But any ideas would be nice! And I experimented with the "Little D" thing... Now sure how I feel. Did I mention how much I appreciate you, Cylone One?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Family **

**Disclaimer:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Spoilers:** Post "Chosen" and some large ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N:** I realize that everything Brothers & Sisters wise is happening all in one week, unlike on the show. But the pace is essential for what I want, so please, bear with me.

**A/N: **Like in the show, I will refer to Buffy and Faith as Buffy and Faith later on, so no one gets confused. But in the beginning, there will be name switching. You have been warned!

-------------------------

**Friday**

"Why did we do this again?" Faith, in Buffy's body asked.

Looking up from flipping through her magazine, Dawn gave the slayer an annoyed look. "It was your idea, Fai-Buffy."

"Just call me Buffy," she posed in front of the mirror, hands on her hips in a superhero pose.

Sitting on the bed watching Faith "imitate" her sister had her giggling loudly. It wasn't exactly Buffy, definitely an exaggeration, but Dawn could see some of Buffy's mannerisms.

"I so do not act like that," Buffy, in Faith's body denied as she walked from their bathroom. "At least you've stuck with my clothes."

Looking down at her simple blue jeans and long sleeve red shirt, Faith shrugged. She was only wearing it so she didn't shock Buffy's family. It wouldn't be good if she showed up at the party the next night wearing leather pants and barely a top. Turning to look at Buffy, she glared. "Why aren't you wearing my clothes?"

Buffy at least had the decency to look ashamed. Trying her best to look innocent, which wasn't really working in Faith's body, she tried to downplay, "Well, these feel better against my skin. And, you know, wearing leather pants on a flight that long would get on anyone's nerves."

"Not mine," the glared intensified as she put her hands on her hips.

"Fine," Buffy sighed. Walking over to Faith's clothes, she pulled out a pair of black leather pants.

"And the shirt," Faith smirked.

Sneering, Buffy pulled out a black top, not noticing just how short it was, and went to change in the bathroom. The door closed behind and Dawn' giggling resumed. "How long do you think it'll take before she sees how short that shirt is?"

Before Faith could even answer, the bathroom door was yanked open and out came Buffy, leather pants and too short shirt. "This thing doesn't even cover my belly button!"

"Wear the jacket, then," Faith motioned to the black jacket hanging off a chair that was sitting at the desk.

"Alright, I'll be in the lobby waiting for the cab, then," Buffy told the two as she grabbed her luggage, just one bag. She hoped this wouldn't take too long.

"When does your flight land?" Dawn asked.

"Ordinarily, it would be horrible. LAX to Detroit, which leads to Amsterdam and finally England. But, with the Council plane, I get to skip most of it and fly straight from Detroit to England."

"At least you get to watch a few movies or something," Dawn shrugged.

"I'd rather be with my family," she sighed. Dawn rose from the bed and hugged her sister. She didn't let a tear drop because she knew her Buffy would be coming back. The Powers finally gave her something and she wasn't about to let it go, demonic forces killing slayers or not.

Kissing her sister on the head, she walked over to Faith, who gave her a weird look. "I don't do the hug thing, remember?"

"Yea, but you're me now, you have to," she smiled. She grabbed the other slayer and held her, not minding how tense she was.

"That's enough, B," Faith shoved her away. "Get outta here before you miss your flight."

After saying goodbye and shutting the door, Dawn walked over to her bag and started rifling through it. "So, Buffy, I have your credit card, would you like to go shopping?"

"Sure, sis," Faith smiled. "But remember, from on, I'm Buffy."

-------------------------

While Faith and Dawn shopped until they dropped, Buffy waited for her arrival in England. That many hours alone on a plane gave a person a lot of time to think and Buffy was no exception. She wasn't thinking about Faith impersonating her, because she trusted her sister slayer. She was somehow able to fool her friends the first time, so fooling people she just met couldn't be any more difficult.

No, she was worried about her current assignment and the future. The easiest thing to put behind her was the assignment, though; it was going to be difficult. This new player was powerful enough to take control over a small team of slayers and kill them. Buffy was very pissed that someone was doing this and was happy that she'd be the one to take this thing out. She was just upset because she was supposed to be with her family. She didn't know how she was going to do this, fighting demons and playing the part of the innocent young woman.

That was the other thing she was worrying about, her family. At the moment, she was getting along with them. She could see right now that she was closer to Justin and Kitty. Sarah had children and Tommy was right behind her, so she couldn't really connect with them, at the moment. But, she could give advice with dealing with teenagers because of Dawn. And she knew she'd have an interesting relationship with Kevin. She wasn't sure if he finally accepted her or if he was just tolerating her, though.

She didn't want to ruin this by unloading on them, but Buffy couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen that would threaten her relationship with her family.

_'Just like with mom,' _Buffy thought. _'But, at least things got better.' _

-------------------------

"Do you think I would like this?" Buffy asked Dawn.

Dawn eyed the black top, a size too small and shook her head. "No, I think Faith would, though."

"Right," Buffy nodded. "I should probably get this for her, she'll thank me for it."

Dawn shoved through various tops, not really looking at any of them. She was worried about her sister and the job ahead of her. She had to believe Buffy could handle this, because if she didn't that would make her a bad sister.

"Faith will make it through this, Dawn," Buffy noticed how uninterested Dawn was in at the clothes. This was one of her favorite stores, and any good older sister would be able to tell when her younger sister was troubled.

"I know," Dawn smirked. "If anyone can do this, Faith can."

"Damn right, she can," Buffy nodded as they walked from the store.

"Buffy!"

"Damn it," Buffy muttered before putting on a smile and turning to face the speaker. The person who called out her name was Kitty and Kevin was walking behind her, holding several bags. "Kitty! Kevin!"

"Why Kevin, I didn't think you shopped at some of these stores," Dawn smiled. She pointed at some of the more feminine clothing shopping bags.

"Right, well, Kitty was supposed to help me shop for something for myself, but we wound up shopping for her," he shook his head. "I believe I have one bag, to her five."

"So what are you two doing here?" Kitty asked, successfully changing the conversation.

"Shopping, of course," Dawn nodded.

"You don't seem like the black leather type, Buffy," Kevin said as he peeked into some of her bags.

"Oh, these are for Faith," she smiled. "She may not be here, but her spirit is and she's telling me to buy stuff for her."

Dawn had to look away as she tried to hold back a laugh. Faith as Buffy was definitely something to watch. She should have been taping this, it was that good. She did a good Buffy, though some comments were a bit weird.

"She's really into the leather, isn't she?" Kitty asked.

"Yea," Buffy frowned. "It's what she likes."

"They didn't mean it like that, Buffy," Dawn reassured her. Turning back to Kitty and Kevin, she smiled softly, "So, what can we expect at the party tomorrow?"

"Lots of wine, and trust me, you'll need it," Kevin nodded. "Tommy wants everything to go perfectly, but in this family, that can't happen."

"It all depends on who was invited and how certain members of our family feel about them," Kitty shrugged. "I think mom is inviting her professor. He'll probably run away."

"We know how that is," Buffy smirked. "Whenever people meet our close knit group, they run for the hills. Mainly because that can hardly understand us."

"We basically have our own language," Dawn laughed.

"Well, hopefully, you can scare some people off tomorrow," Kitty smiled. "We'll see you there around seven?"

"Yup, seven it is," Buffy nodded. Kitty and Kevin said their goodbyes and walked in the direction Buffy and Dawn came from. "Well, that was easy, if not completely unexpected."

"But they believed you were here," Dawn pointed out.

"Yea, but it's not like they know about the dark stuff, so they wouldn't know to look out for it. You think they can handle it?"

"The truth?" Dawn asked. "I think that if we took our time and introduced little by little, then they could. But, throwing everything at them might not be good."

"But it could be what's needed," Buffy countered. "And the wine might soften them up."

-------------------------

**Early Morning Sunday - England**

"We're going to split up," Faith explained to her team. "He must know we'd be trying something. He's controlling humans because he thinks we won't kill them, and he's right. They don't know what they're doing, so we can't blame this on them. Satsu, you've got the charm. Melanie and Beth, you too. You go in, knock the humans out. He can't control you since you have the charms."

"What about us, Bu-Faith?" Leah asked.

"Leah, Rowena, Samantha and I are gonna find another way in, try to get closer to the guy. Hopefully, we can take him out before he sees us. There weren't enough charms to go around at such short notice. Satsu, we're counting on you and your team to keep his attention."

"Right," Satsu nodded. She was used to this now; Buffy giving her the lead on certain missions. It was the cause of many rifts between Leah, Rowena and herself, but they couldn't really complain now as they lead other teams on different missions, as well. They were just upset because it was Buffy she led teams under, instead of other "Scythe Activated Slayers".

"Let's do this," Faith spoke. The teams separated, Satsu's taking the front, while Buffy's snuck around back. It was a rundown warehouse, so they had to be careful. Passerby's used this place as their own garbage dump, so the slayers had to being watchful of where they stepped. They couldn't alert this guy to their presence, or at least, not so soon.

As she walked, Faith could hear Samantha behind her complaining. "Why do warlocks always live in warehouses?"

She couldn't help but be proud. When staring danger in the face, it was only right to laugh. If you didn't then the fear took control and you lost. They did not show their fear, especially with this new evil. They already lost one team of slayers; it was not going to happen again.

"Alright, we're in position," Faith spoke to Satsu through their headsets. Satsu responded that her team was in position, as well. "Go for it, Satsu."

With the enhanced hearing, they could hear the fighting inside. While being under the control of the demon warlock, the humans still showed the same amount of strength they had before being taken. They didn't stand a chance, but the slayers already knew that. The real competition was the warlock.

"Faith!" Satsu's voice sounded panicked. "He had people outside, he knows you're here!"

"What do we do Faith?" Samantha asked. They each had their own headsets and could hear the fear in Satsu's voice. Her question didn't seem to have an effect as Faith stood where she was.

"Faith?" Rowena asked, worried.

The dark haired slayer turned around and faced the three slayers. She stared at them for a long time, not moving.

"Her eyes," Leah started backing away. "The warlock 'as her."

"Shit," Samantha whispered, as Faith started moving towards them, completely taken over. The demonic warlock was now the least of their problems.

-------------------------

**Saturday Night – California**

"They're almost as bad as the Scoobies," Dawn smiled. She let out a yelp as the table above her head shook.

"Yea, but I don't think we ever started any food fights," Buffy sighed. "Faith's going to kill me if something touches her clothes."

"At least you figured the fight would start soon enough for us to duck and cover," Dawn assured her. "And how did you know it was going to start?"

"Nora was way past upset with that Holly coming in and taking that professor's attention away from her," she shrugged. "The party was fine until she showed up."

Apparently, Holly and Nora knew one another before tonight. Holly dated William before Nora did, but Holly never really got over the fact that Nora married him. She was a friend of the family, so she was invited to the party, without Nora knowing. When she walked inside, Nora instantly found Tommy's eyes who practically ran away.

As it turned out, all her kids knew about Holly being invited, but just couldn't tell their mother. They each got their ear talked off by her, even Dawn and Buffy. She wanted to know if they knew anything about Holly being invited, which they didn't.

It all went south when Holly started flirting with Nora's date. That did not go over so well, especially when she kissed him, in front of everyone, on the cheek. Buffy noticed the food first and quickly pulled Dawn under the table.

"How much longer do you think this is going to last?" Dawn asked.

"When the food runs out."

Dawn glared at her as she moved out from under the table to survey how much longer the fight was going to last.

"Is it over?" Buffy asked.

Dawn came back under and turned to look at her sister, who burst out laughing. Her face was covered in cake, "It's pretty much over, but at least the cake is chocolate and not vanilla."

Crawling out from under the table, Buffy let out another laugh. Everyone was covered in various foods. The good thing was that the guests had cleared out.

"I think I'll just go," Holly said, wiping sour cream from her eyes.

"You think?" Nora snapped. "And take Mark with you."

Mark, the professor, was all too happy to get away from the family and left with Holly. The only people left were the Walkers, who were not really surprised by the turn of events.

"Nice to see you two unscathed," Justin shook his head.

"Duck and cover is what I'm good it," Dawn nodded, completely serious.

Buffy's cell phone chose that moment to ring. "Hello?"

"Bit of a problem, _Buffy_," Xander spoke.

"There a problem Xand?" Buffy smiled at her family's worried faces.

"The demon warlock Faith was facing," he answered. "She was taken under his control."

"What?" Buffy yelled.

"We were working on opening a portal to take her to a safe place," he continued. "Problem is, the portal sees through spells, so Buffy's going to the safest place there is for her, herself."

"That's making the sense that's not."

"She's coming to you Buffy, to her body."

"There's no portal--" Something in the air caused her to stop. Something was coming. "Dawn, get down!"

Without thinking, Dawn dropped as a burst of light exploded, sending everyone else in the vicinity flying backward. A portal had opened.

"What the hell is that?" Kevin groaned as he stood up.

"Looks like a big, floating white light," Kitty answered him. Kevin glared, and she shrugged. "You asked."

"I didn't think you be so calm over something that just can't happen!"

"Justin, get away from there!" Nora yelled at her youngest son as he walked toward it.

"I don't think it's going to hurt him," Dawn spoke. "Just a guess."

"Maybe you shouldn't," Buffy stopped him. "We don't know what it is and in the movies, stuff usually comes out of it."

"And what do you know," Dawn whispered as something flew out of it. Everyone backed away as a very tall figure landed on the ground.

"That's not Faith," Buffy stepped in front of Dawn. This was not a part of the plan, but she couldn't just let the thing slay the family.

Before the demon could start killing, another figure jumped out and landed on the table. "Faith?"

Completely ignoring what was happening around her, she flipped over the demons head and landed beside him. She spun and kicked him in the stomach, sending him over the table. An axe that came through was soon picked up as she vaulted over the table and before the demon could move, she decapitated him.

"What the hell was that?" Justin couldn't help but yell.

"Overkill is what it was," Buffy rolled her eyes. "B, did you have to take the things head off?"

Putting the axe on her shoulder, Faith turned around, seeing everyone's expressions. "Would you believe gang member on PCP?"

"And the light show?" Sarah asked, clearly not convinced.

"Faulty fireworks!"

"Buffy, it's over," Dawn shook her head.

"Let's excuse everything that just happened and get to why Dawn is calling you Buffy, Faith," Nora spoke next. "I'd like an explanation for that before we talk about everything else."

"It's simple, really," Buffy shrugged. "We swapped bodies."

-------------------------

_Me thinks the next chapter will be the last chapter. Unless my lovely reviewers can help with plot bunnies!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Family **

**Disclaimer:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Brothers & Sisters belongs to Jon Robin Baitz

**Spoilers:** Post "Chosen" and some large ones for season 8. Post "Love is Difficult" and goes AU afterward, though I'm doing something that wasn't done on the show.

**A/N: **This is basically the big explanation chapter, but I'm trying to include other things.

-------------------------

**Sunday Morning**

It was through sheer luck that the big talk didn't happen after Buffy came through the portal. If you consider Buffy passing out in Faith's body because of her mission luck, then yea, it was very sheer. Everyone seemed to forget about the impossible portal and demon when she fell. The family, or at least Nora was more concerned about Fa-Buffy's well being. They decided to just go by their real names, to make the confusion a little less confusing.

When Buffy assured everyone that she was okay and showed them by standing up and not swaying back and forth, the questions started. It appeared that the interrogation would always come after the question of a person's well being was answered. They didn't answer any questions, which only angered most of the Walkers, but Justin could see that the three really needed to talk without their questioning.

They rushed to the car, but not before Buffy turned to them and promised that if they still wanted her, then she would tell them everything. They all nodded, far too curious. After the three left, the Walkers looked in the direction the portal had opened, wondering if it was going to happen again. It was then Kevin noticed that the body no longer with a head was still in their backyard.

"We can do this," Buffy nodded.

"Then ring the doorbell," Dawn gave her a little push. Seeing that her sister was not going to do it, Dawn shook her head as she pushed the button. Kevin who glared at them pulled the door open.

"That body is still in the backyard," he spoke.

"Oh, right, forgot about that," Buffy gave a nervous laugh.

"We can deal with that after--" he left it hanging, not needing to explain. "They're all in the kitchen."

They followed after him, heading for the kitchen and stopped once they made it inside the large area. All eyes were on them. Nora, Sarah, Joe, Kitty, Tommy, Julia, Kevin and Justin were all expecting an answer.

"You can sit, if it'll help," Kitty spoke first. They nodded as they noticed the extra chairs for them and sat in them quickly, the Walkers following their move.

"We're really not sure how to do this," Buffy said, "I mean, we've explained this stuff, but it's still weird. Do you have any questions first?"

"Are you Buffy or are you still Faith?" Nora asked over her children's questions. "And it was real, the body swap?"

"We're in our own bodies now, and yes, it was real," Buffy nodded. "It was magic."

"Magic!" Kevin exclaimed. "You can't be serious."

Buffy looked to Dawn, who gave her a quizzical look. "Why are you staring at me like that, Buffy?"

"Dawnie, I know Willow's been teaching you some stuff."

She at least had the decency to look guilty before she concentrated on the empty pots on the stove and started levitating them.

"So yea, magic is real," Buffy smiled at their astonished faces. Kevin, being the most skeptical waved his hands over and under the pot feeling for wire. "And it's a lot more dangerous than floating things in the air, magic is what brought me here last night, it was a portal."

"And that thing last night, was it a vampire?" Justin spoke up.

"No, but how do you know about vampires?" Faith asked. His family looked at him, wondering if he knew about Buffy more than they did.

"I didn't always go to the best places whenever I bought from a dealer," he shrugged. "I didn't really think much of them when I saw them because I passed it off with being high, but they're real?"

"Yea," Buffy nodded, a little worried that her brother could have been killed because of his addiction. "Vampires, demons and everything you thought couldn't be real is real. The thing from last night was a demonic sorcerer."

"So you're emergency in England?" Sarah prodded.

"They needed me to lead a team against him because he was killing our people," she explained. She turned to Faith and Dawn and added, "And that control thing? It really worked. I didn't get to tell you last night, but he got me under his control."

"You must have kicked those girls ass, then," Faith laughed.

"You didn't hurt them too badly, did you?" Dawn looked worried.

"Wait, who is they?" Nora gained order back. "Is it the company you work for?"

"Yes, but I do train people for self-defense!" she reminded them before continuing. "Since there are demons in this world, higher powers decided that they needed someone to fight them. Years ago, they created the slayer."

"Into every generation, there is the slayer; one girl in all the world to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness," Dawn recited from memory.

"And she is you," Tommy broke his silence.

"Yes, I'm a slayer," Buffy nodded, hoping they caught her "a" instead of "the".

"So you train little girls to go out and fight these things that you should be fighting?" Kevin spat.

Buffy groaned, clearly seeing that they didn't catch the slip. "I always tell this wrong."

"That's why you're rarely on the first contact with families," Faith reminded. Turning back to the family, she continued. "I'm a slayer, too."

"The way you spoke made it seem like there was only one," Kitty said.

"And there was, until our friend did a major spell that made all the girls who could become the next slayer, into a slayer," Dawn took over. "The girls Buffy and Faith train are slayers and we can't stop them from doing it, even if they are a bit young. What's done is done."

"Our daughter," Joe looked at Sarah first before looking at the three. "Does this run in the family, is there a way that might--"

"We don't know if it's possible for it to run in the family," Buffy answered his truthfully. "Slayers didn't really have children and the only one we know who did had a son and only girls can be slayers, as you know. But, if you really want to, we can call our friend and she would be able to tell you."

"Thank you," Joe nodded.

"Okay, so Buffy came first and then the spell happened causing others like her to appear?" Nora asked for clarification.

"Not exactly," Buffy elbowed Faith who started to laugh. "Faith and I are the slayers who were chosen the original way, before the spell."

She could see the question forming on their lips. Buffy wondered just how much she was going to tell them. They were going to have to know that she died, at least the first time. She'd tell them about Xander, Willow and Giles. Maybe even Cordelia and Oz. She didn't want to scare them away, though. They didn't have to know everything!

"When a slayer dies, another one is called," she explained calmly. "So, yes, I died only to have my friend give me CPR and that was enough to call another slayer. She died at the hands of a crazy master vampire and that caused Faith to be called."

"How old were you?" Kevin asked.

"Sixteen," she answered, "I was called as the slayer when I was fifteen."

"I was seventeen," Faith answered. "My Watcher was killed, so I went to Buffy and her Watcher over in Sunnydale."

There were so many questions that dealt with that one sentence. They wanted to know what a Watcher was, and how they both had one. And then they asked about Sunnydale, because everyone knew that it was a weird occurrence. Dawn explained to them that she was a Watcher-in-training and what that entailed. They told them the truth about what caused the hole in the ground that was Sunnydale.

"So everything weird that we heard about that town, people disappearing, losing voices, that was all--"

"Demons, and we stopped them," Buffy nodded. "I want to tell you more, and I will, but I think if I did then you'd be too overwhelmed."

"Just one more question," Nora spoke. "Did your mother know?"

"I hid it from her, for as long as I could, but she found out the truth," she sighed. "She wigged and kicked me out because she wanted me to stop. But I couldn't, I still can't, but she learned to accept it, I like to believe."

Nora smiled as she made her way forward and brought Buffy into a hug. Faith and Dawn received one as well. "Welcome to the family."

The three were left speechless as Nora backed away and smiled at them. This wasn't something they were expecting, easy acceptance.

"We weren't expect—wow, I mean, usually it takes time for people, like seeing their first demon or something, but never like this," Buffy finally spoke.

"Would it be easier to see a demon?" Nora asked. She surprised herself by being so open to the idea of demons and vampires, but seeing the looks of these girls' faces told her that this was serious.

"That might be too dangerous," Buffy held up her hands. "It wouldn't do too well for my newly discovered family to be in some sacrifice. And knowing my luck it's a sacrifice that needs the whole family."

"Sacrifice?" Kitty asked.

"Remind me to get you guys the handbook," Dawn nodded. "It'll answer a lot of questions."

"Everyone keeps talking about this handbook and I still haven't seen it," Buffy turned toward Dawn.

Sighing, Dawn looked at the Walkers, "We interviewed her for advice she would give for the handbook and she still can't remember."

"Fine, give them the handbook, but I wanna see it first to see if you made me look like a fool or something," Buffy sighed dramatically.

"It's not that hard," Dawn muttered, knowing Buffy could hear them.

"Let them come patrolling, B," Faith finally spoke. She was always a fan of Buffy and Dawn fighting, but the Walkers just weren't ready for a Summers' cat fight. "The two best slayers in history should have them running anyway."

"The best?"

"The Chosen Two," Faith smirked. "We'll tell you about it on the patrol."

"Yes, the life of the Scoobies is an interesting one," Dawn smiled.

"Scoobies?" Justin asked.

"It's a long and complicated story," Buffy nodded. "But, I think we can induct you all into the group."

"Run screaming," Faith spoke. "And don't look back."

-------------------------

**End**

_I haven't finished a story in a long time! It feels good. Okay, I like this universe too much to just end it with one story, so I still have a few others. Someone mentioned Nora going on patrol… Yea, definitely want to do that one._


End file.
